Cucumbers

Well, this is not a cooking recipe.. I wanted to share with you our success with cucumbers this year. The picture above is our bounty from today. Pretty good!

Here is what we did this year. I planted 2 pots with 5 seeds each in June. I don't remember the day, but it was probably late that month. By July 10-20 all 10 seedlings had emerged and had grown a set of true leaves. At the time we planted them in 4 mounds with respectively 2, 3, 2, 3 seedlings. They got full afternoon sun and plenty of water. I think I have been watering them almost every day. We also feed them every couple of weeks or so with a slow release organic fertilizer. They were still small mid-august, but they grew quickly after that and started producing Sep. 1. Once grown make sure you pick the cukes daily because I missed one that grew so big it got stuck between the fence (see pic below). :))

Cornbread Muffins

I was craving some cornbread.. It tends to be sweeter almost like cake so I was looking for something with a bit less sugar. I adapted the following recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cornbread-muffins-with-maple-butter-237892

I used homemade yogurt instead of buttermilk and probably 1/2 T less sugar. Baked in paper lined mini muffin pans for 10 mins at 375 F so I ended up with 24 muffins. They still looked pale when I took them out but were perfectly cooked. Note, while still warm they tended to stick to the paper liner, but I had no such problem on the next morning. The are buttery, crumbly, with the right amount of sweetness.
I also had these with maple butter, but I don't think it is quite necessary, although it makes them a bit more special I think. These would probably store well in the freezer, too, so you can enjoy a quick bite whenever you crave it. ;)

Pretzel Rolls

I was browsing through Epicurious and the following recipe for pretzel rolls caught my attention: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pretzel-rolls-1107. I have made pretzels only once before and I found it a bit harder to keep them in good shape, so I thought rolls would make it much easier and it sure did. It didn't take too long to do, either. I mixed the dough in a bowl with electric mixer with dough attachments instead of using food processor to minimize the amount of dirty cookware. Other than that, I followed the recipe. I ended up with only 6 rolls, though, since we used the last two dough pieces for pizza. :) These were best while still warm, still good on the next day, and they were gone by day 3.
I think I would still make regular shaped pretzels next time, since they are better for dipping. ;)